Resurrection
by Backstroke-For-Days
Summary: In a land of fact, and a time of science, the destiny of Albion rests on the shoulders of an old man. His name, Merlin. When Arthur is finally resurrected, Merlin can hardly believe it. But the arrival of his greatest friend will soon bring the arrival of his greatest foe. Will Merlin be able to protect his king in a land that does not believe in magic?


**A/N: Hello! I wrote this story as a birthday present for my friend. It's a one shot for now, but if there's any interest for me to make it a series I'd be happy to do so. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review!**

Merlin shot up in bed, waking up from yet another nightmare about Arthur. They had been flaring up recently, causing many problems for the warlock. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his face tiredly. Deciding a cold shower would help, Merlin clambered out of his bed and stumbled into the bathroom. He stripped out of his clothes, that were slightly damp from a cold sweat, and climbed under the cold stream of water. This was only one of Merlin's oddities; he liked chocolate milk in his cereal and had a strong dislike for tomatoes, which could probably be attributed to the many floggings he received when he lied for Arthur.

Merlin cut off the flow of water and stepped out of the shower. Today was Wednesday, meaning he had work at the police department in about an hour. Merlin worked as a Mythology professor at King's College London on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and earned extra money at the police department lie detecting, filling out paperwork, and so on.

He slipped on a gray sweater and some dark jeans, along with some black dress shoes and a black coat. Skipping breakfast, he left his flat and began towards the station. He had never been much of a breakfast person anyway.

A man rose from his position on the ground, gasping for air. He looked around incredulously, wondering how long he had been sleeping and why his side hurt so profusely. He stood shakily and took a deep breath.

"MERLIN!"

Merlin swiped his ID card and fixed his badge and nametag on his sweater.

"Merlin?" Officer Daniel Hayes poked his head into the break room. Merlin's head shot up.

"Yes?"

"We need you to observe an interrogation. This way, if you don't mind." He answered. Merlin nodded and followed Officer Dan into a room with double-sided glass adjacent to the interrogation room. Officer Dan handed him a file. "Picked up some bloke earlier today causing a disturbance around town. When we tried to arrest him, he pulled some weird stuff and started claiming to be royalty." Merlin frowned. He was about to say something, but stopped himself as he noticed the door to the interrogation room opened, revealing Officer Philip Lewis. Officer Phil was followed in by a tall, blonde man wearing chainmail. Merlin's breath hitched. The man sat at the table, looking quite put off.

"Mind telling me why you're claiming to be the King of England?" The man glared.

"I'm not the King of England. I'm the King of Camelot. Surely you've heard of it?" Officer Phil scoffed.

"King of Camelot. Right. And I'm a bloody wizard." The man's eyes widened.

"Merlin? Is that really you? Wow. Bulked up a bit, haven't you? Mind telling my why you LEFT ME STRANDED ON AN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF A LAKE? I had to borrow someone's boat!"

"That's Arthur, alright." Merlin mumbled to himself.

"Are you high?" Officer Phil asked, dumbfounded.

"What on Earth are you- Merlin, just get me out of here, okay? We must be in a land of sorcery, there are people carrying funny little light boxes, and I saw some sort of carriage moving without a horse!"

Merlin put his face in his hands and sighed. Officer Dan gave a short laugh.

"Weird, right? He must be on some sort of drug or something."

"He's not on drugs, Dan. Let him off. I'll pay whatever fines he's managed to get ahold of."

"Why would you do that, mate? You don't even know the bloke." Merlin just shook his head.

"Old friend from high school. He's an actor, doesn't like to break character. Must be in a movie about The Knights of the Round Table or something. I'll handle him." Merlin lied swiftly. Officer Dan looked reluctant, but gave two knocks on the mirror to let Officer Phil know he'd be coming in. "Always bailing him out of trouble." Merlin mumbled to himself, but he couldn't stop the enormous grin from spreading on his face. Officer Dan left the room and entered the one adjacent to it. "It's Arthur. It's really Arthur." Merlin whispered, watching Officer Dan explain the situation to Officer Phil in a hushed tone. Officer Phil gestured for Arthur to stand.

"It's about time, Merlin." He grumbled.

"My name is Philip!" Officer Phil said, finally tired of Arthur's nonsense. They led Arthur out of the room to fill out some paperwork, which would probably end up being filled out by Merlin.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin left the room for the front desk, where he could pick up Arthur.

Arthur Pendragon had gotten himself into a predicament. He had found a fragile looking rowboat and was now on the mainland, of wherever this place was. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he watched the traffic speed by, being used to horse drawn carriages. He began to ask random pedestrians where he was, and if they had seen his "idiot serving boy" anywhere, and was attracting the stares of many people.

"Mister, is that sword real?" An old woman asked cautiously.

"Of course it is. No need to fear, I only use it when absolutely necessary." The woman scurried away, mumbling about murder or something similar.

"Did you say that was real?" Another man asked.

"Yes, why is it such a big deal? Listen, can you please tell me where Camelot is from here?" The man shook his head incredulously and left, intending to call the police as soon as he was at a safe distance. "Can anyone tell me where I am?" Arthur asked again, loudly. He attracted even more odd looks.

"You're in London, mate." A passing man said, shaking his head. Right about that moment, a police cruiser parked by the sidewalk. Two officers stepped out and began approaching Arthur.

"'Scuse me, sir, you've a moment?" Arthur nodded.

"Ah, constables. Of course. Can you tell me how to get to Camelot from here?" The two officers shared a look.

"Er... Camelot? Listen, son, you can't be walkin' round London with a sword on your hip. It's not safe for the pedestrians."

"What? I'm not a murderer, it's for protection. I'm a King. What if I get attacked?" The officers shared another look.

"We're gonna need you to come down to the station with us and answer a few questions."

"I'm sorry but it's in my best interests to find Camelot immediately. My Queen and my country need me." Arthur said, and began to try and walk away.

"If you don't come willingly, we'll have to make you. Come on, son, let's do this the easy way."

"If I have to fight you I will. I must return to Camelot." Arthur replied, pulling his sword from his sheath. The officers jumped into action, and placed their hands on their guns, ready to pull them at any moment.

"I don't want to fight you, son."

"Then let me go."

"I can't do that." While they were speaking, another officer snuck behind Arthur and began trying to cuff him. Arthur elbowed him in the stomach, causing the other officer to pull a taser, deciding against his gun at the moment. "Put the sword down, son."

"I can't. I'm sorry, but I have to get back home." They had gathered a crowd by now.

"Then I have no choice." He raised his taser.

"Wh- sort of- sorcery- is this?!" Arthur gasped, writhing in pain on the ground. Both officers began forcing him into the back of the vehicle, and put his sword in the trunk where he couldn't reach it.

"Have a seat here. Someone will be here in a moment to pick you up. You're lucky we're letting you off with a warning. You have a pretty good friend here, be sure to thank him." Officer Phil said to Arthur. Arthur nodded, and spotted a raven haired man at the front desk filling out papers with his back to him. The man straightened up and took a deep breath before turning and making his way over to Arthur.

"Merlin? Is that you?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"Yes. Keep your voice down." Merlin hissed.

"What are you-" Arthur began, but was cut off by Merlin's elbow in his stomach.

"Hello, Officer Dan." Merlin said, shooting a sideways glance at Arthur, who hadn't noticed him. "I'll be needing the rest of the day off to get him sorted, if you don't mind," Merlin said, nodding his head toward Arthur. Officer Dan nodded.

"Of course. I'll tell the head detective."

"Thanks, Dan. I owe you one." Merlin said. He clapped a hand on Arthur's back and pushed him slightly towards the door. "Let's get going, mate." As soon as they were outside, Merlin broke the facade and glared at Arthur. "What were you thinking? You can't pull a sword in the middle of the street!"

"I was trying to get directions because someone left me stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere! Speaking of, where are we? And what are you wearing?"

"Look around, Arthur. I'm not the one out of place here. And the better question would be 'when are we'."

"What?"

"It's 2015, Arthur. You've been asleep for a long time." Arthur blinked. Merlin didn't live too far, and they were now standing in front of his apartment building.

"I've been...what?" Merlin rolled his eyes and stepped inside, not waiting for Arthur to follow. When Arthur had snapped out of whatever state he was in, Merlin had already gone.

"Oi, clotpole, you coming or what?" Merlin called. Arthur ascended a set of stairs and entered Merlin's flat, closing the door behind him. He looked around, trying and failing to inconspicuously determine the purpose of the gadgets that were spread across the flat. Merlin was rummaging through his clothes, trying to find anything that would even remotely fit Arthur. Sighing deeply, he decided on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt he found in the bottom of his closet that he hadn't even realized he owned. "Here. You can wear these for now. We'll have to buy you some new clothes eventually. S'pose we'll have to get you a job as well, I'm not paying your rent."

"Merlin, can I ask you something?" Merlin nodded. "Why am I here? What happened to me?" Merlin frowned.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to get you adjusted to modern life." Arthur nodded, not arguing for once. "And Arthur?" His head perked up, and he met Merlin's gaze unsteadily. "It's good to have you back."


End file.
